Imagine you’re Mike Palumbo.

You’re 22 years old, you just got hired as Lowellville’s head football coach, you’re getting ready for your first game and ... you get some pretty bad news.

OK, some really bad news. You find out several of your seniors broke a team rule, forcing you to suspend 13 starters against two of the best teams on your schedule: Mineral Ridge and Woodridge.

That would hurt any team. But in a school as small as Lowellville, it was devastating.

“No coach wants that,” said Palumbo, who said the suspension was a combination of school policy and his own decision. “Kids are kids and you can’t hold grudges, but that definitely hurt our season.”

Despite sporting arguably the best scout team in school history, the Rockets lost those two games by a combined score of 98-14. The suspension had the potential to ruin a once-promising season.

Instead, something good happened. The seniors apologized, worked hard in practice and kept the team together.

“The kids knew they’d messed up,” said Palumbo. “They felt remorse and they knew they’d hurt the team, but they showed a lot of leadership over those two weeks.

“I didn’t know what to expect, but they stayed with the team concept.”

They surprised everyone by beating Springfield in Week 3, then topped Sebring and Southern in successive weeks. After a close loss to Leetonia (34-31), the Rockets beat Wellsville last Friday and still have an outside shot at the Inter Tri-County League Tier Two title and the playoffs.

Of course, they’ll need three more wins first.

“When I was hired back in December, winning the league was my first goal and then making the playoffs,” said Palumbo. “We can still achieve those goals. The biggest thing has been believing in each other.”

Palumbo’s hiring last year raised more than a few eyebrows, but his pedigree — he quarterbacked the Rockets to an undefeated season as a senior in 2002 — combined with an experienced coaching staff have helped overcome his youth.

“The coaching staff has been great,” said Palumbo. “And I think the kids are responding to me.

“One of the things we stress is that we’re 0-0 every week. We can’t live in the past. After every game, if we win I tell the guys to celebrate tonight but we’ve got another opponent the next week. If we lose, remember tonight and think about what we did wrong, but after we watch film on Saturday, we’re 0-0.”

So far, it’s worked.

Lowellville still faces crucial games against Western Reserve and McDonald over the next two weeks, but the fact that they’re not building toward next season shows how far they’ve come over the past six weeks.

And, Palumbo hopes, how far they can still go.

UAlthough East has won six straight, the Panthers face a must-win on Friday against unbeaten Canton Central Catholic.

East is 11th in the Region 7 computer ratings (its six wins are against opponents with a combined 9-33 record) and with games against Warren Harding (3-4) and Chaney (0-7) looming, this could be a playoffs-or-bust-type game.

This would (obviously) be the first playoff trip for the Panthers, although the former East made the playoffs twice: 1986 and 1997.

Other area schools still looking for that first trip are Salem, Jackson-Milton, Sebring, Southern, United and Youngstown Christian.

UYou didn’t need to see much of Ursuline this year to know the Irish were a playoff-caliber team. The only question was, could they make it?

With their schedule, there were no guarantees. But after three straight road wins, the Irish (6-1) are atop the Region 17 standings with games against Beaver Local (1-6), Mooney (7-0) and Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary looming.

If they get in, they have to be considered one of the favorites to win the Division V state title.

UIn Sunday’s paper, I wrote that Mooney does not have a losing record against any team it’s met more than once. I was wrong — Cleveland Cathedral Latin is 1-0-1 against the Cardinals.

Since that school no longer exists — it merged with Notre Dame Academy to create Notre Dame Cathedral Latin in 1988 — I’m going to go out on a limb and say that record is safe.

XJoe Scalzo is a sportswriter for The Vindicator. Write him at scalzo@vindy.com.